Angels to Fly
by nannygirl
Summary: Laurie pays a visit to her father and shares with him a very important message. A story written in loving memory of Lisa Robin Kelly.


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of it's characters. I do not own the song that the title of the story came from. I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone, how are you all today? Hope you're doing well and having a good week so far! Today I have for you a new little oneshot that I wrote awhile back and it is a more serious and even sadder story than what I usually write. But I hope you all still enjoy it. The title of the story comes from the song The A Team by Ed Sheeran but this is not at all a song fic, I just thought the line would fit well as the story's title. You see, I wrote this story a few days after hearing the tragic news of Lisa Robin Kelly's passing, after reading Kurtwood's Smith about her passing I wanted to do a Red and Laurie story since I always loved the father daughter relationship they had and Kurtwood Smith's statement was quite touching—and so I wrote this piece and it actually helped me deal with LRK's sudden passing. I would like to thank all of you who I talked to during that time who helped me as well, as we comforted each other and shared favorite Laurie moments. Big thank yous also goes out to MistyMountainHop, A1995C, and LedZepGrl who supported me with posting this story at all. Thank you, ladies! Again I thank you all for stopping by to read this story, I hope you like it, please review if you can, and as always please, Enjoy!_

_Quick Side Note, there is a small tissue warning for this story. Nothing too big but you may wanna have one handy just in case._

_**Dedication:**__ This story is dedicated to the wonderfully talent Lisa Robin Kelly. The way she portrayed Laurie was brilliant, she made the character feel so real and feel like you knew the character. It was the Forman family scenes that included her that have always been my favorite. I have also written Laurie in several of my stories and always have fun writing her character and I really think that's because of Lisa Robin Kelly and the way she played Laurie she made the character fun. Thank you for all the laughs, Ms. Lisa Robin Kelly, may you rest in peace._

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**Angels to Fly**

Red Forman found himself somewhere that he couldn't recall walking to, it wasn't a place he instantly recognized either. However, when he started to look around the place and took in his surrounding he figured out where he was.

The park.

It wasn't just any park though; it was the park near the house. He and Kitty would take Eric and Laurie—and any of the misfits that followed—to this very park when they were younger, where they'd play on the playground and in the sandboxes while he and Kitty sat on a bench and enjoyed some semi-kid-free moments while keeping an eye on the rugrats.

Those times had been nice but Red's favorite memories of this park were when he would come here with Laurie and it would just be the two of them—him and her. He'd first brought her to this park when she was about two or three years old.

It had been right after Eric was born, Kitty needed time to rest but could only do so when Eric was sleeping, something that wasn't so easy to do with a bouncing two year old in the house. It was Red's idea to take Laurie to the park, it gave Kitty a break and allowed him to spend time with his little girl, which helped remind her that even though there was a new baby in the house she was still very much loved.

Laurie had loved going to the park, her favorite part was the swings. Their trips to the park continued over the years but became fewer and fewer as Laurie got older.

He found that same three swing swing set that he'd spent hours at, pushing Laurie up towards the sky as she giggled and cheered 'Higher, Daddy! Higher!' She had once told him that when he pushed her on the swings it made her feel like she was flying up in the sky. Red took a seat in the middle swing and smiled at the memory, at bit sadly as he realized that it had been a very long time since he'd last been to this place.

"Hi Daddy." A little voice called out.

Red lifted his head and turned in the direction that the voice had come from where he found his daughter sitting in the swing to his left.

"Laurie?" he said sounding a bit confused, "What're you doing here?"

She smiled softly, "I came to see you, Daddy."

He nodded but before he said anything else he took in her appearance. She looked much like how he'd last seen her a year or two ago but there's was something different about her. Her facial expressions seemed more carefree, more childlike, and the long, flowy, white dress she wore gave her a sort of glowing appearance.

"You look beautiful, Kitten." He told her.

"Thanks." She smiled back at him and then grabbed onto the metal chains that her seat hung from, "Will you push me?"

Not needing to be asked twice, Red stood up from his swing and walked behind his daughter. Laurie tucked her legs underneath her as Red took hold of the chains and pulled her back before letting her go and causing her to rise up in the air. Laurie grinned as she pumped her legs up and down, helping her go farther up to the sky while Red continued pushing her back gently every time she came back down. The moment was filled with a peaceful silence that was suddenly broken when Laurie spoke up.

"How're things at home?" she asked.

Red shrugged as he gave her another push, "Same old same. Your mother's doing fine. And your brother and his friends are still dumbasses."

"Daddy, you really should be a little nicer to Eric." Laurie said as she came back down and dropped her legs to the ground to let her father know that she was done swinging, "But just _a little_. Otherwise you'll either scare him or it'll all go to his head."

Hearing Laurie defend her brother or even say that he should be nicer to him was not something Red was used to hearing her say but he nodded his head because he had another question for her.

"When are you coming home?"

Laurie looked down and in a soft voice replied, "I can't come back home, Daddy."

"What do you mean you can't come back home?" Red demanded to know, he wasn't angry but he was determined to get his answer. He knew this wasn't real. As much as he would like to think he really was at the old swing set spending time with his daughter, he knew this was some sort of dream but it wasn't like his usual dreams and he wondered if Laurie had come to him in this 'dream' to tell him something. Maybe she was in trouble and needed his help, "Laurie, what's going on?"

"Nothing Daddy, nothing is going on." she quickly told him as she got up from her swing and stood in front of him, "I'm okay, Daddy, really. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm better."

"Better?" Red didn't understand.

Laurie nodded, "I'm happy."

Red felt a sharp pang at his heart that hurt far more then the pain he'd felt when he had his heart attack. He suddenly understood why Laurie was in his dream, why she looked the way she did, why she was telling him he didn't have to worry about her anymore.

"Laurie…" he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"It's okay, Daddy." Laure said before she wrapped her arms around her father and instantly felt not only his tight grip on her body but a wetness soaking onto her shoulder, "Please don't cry, Daddy. I'm okay now. And I'll always be with you."

Tears were rolling down Red's cheeks but he didn't care, he just held his daughter closer and tighter to him not wanting to ever let her go. Suddenly he heard the far off sound of not crying but sobbing, Red's hold on Laurie tightened even more when he recognized the sobs as Kitty's. This was all true. It wasn't a horrible nightmare and now Kitty knew.

Red knew that when he woke up he would not only have to face this cruel reality but he would have to be the strong one, for Kitty, Eric, the rest of the dumbasses and most importantly for Laurie. But he didn't know if he could do it.

Laurie could hear her mother's cries, "Tell Mommy I love her, okay?"

Wordlessly Red nodded his head.

"And I love you too, Daddy." She said still hugging him.

Red lifted his head just a bit to press his lips to the top of Laurie's head, "I love you too, Kitten."

"I have to go now, Daddy." Laurie said a few moments later, "And you have to be with Mommy."

Nodding his head somberly, Red reluctantly released his daughter from his arms and she stepped back making to obvious that she was going to leave him soon. He knew this would be the last time he saw her and so he tired to remember each and every little detail of how beautiful and happy she looked.

She gave one more little smile, "Goodbye, Daddy."

"Goodbye, Laurie." He said.

And then she was gone and he was standing alone in front of the old swing set.

Before Red knew it he was no longer in the park and instead was laying in bed in his darkened bedroom with Kitty looking down at him with her eyes bloodshot and tears running down her face.

"Red…" was all she managed to croak out before breaking down in tears.

Instantly Red sat up and pulled Kitty's shaking body into his arms where he held her firmly. She didn't have to tell him anything, he knew. He knew from the way she held onto him so tightly, he knew from her tears, he knew from his dream…or whatever that was.

He couldn't help the tears that escaped him as he held his wife and rocked her back and forth as they mourned the loss of their first born, their daughter, their child. Red was sure whatever it was that he'd just experience had been somehow real and so he knew and was comforted by the fact that his daughter was okay now and was happy, but it didn't mean he was going to miss her any less.

**The End**

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_**Author's Note: **__So what did you think? Good? Bad? Keep it? Delete it? Let me know in a review!_

_I do hope you all enjoyed the story and it didn't upset you or made you think it was distasteful or anything like that. If you do feel that way, I apologize that was not my intention. Do any of you have a favorite Laurie moment you'd like to share? Please feel free to do so :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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